For those of you who didn’t already know we planned to spend my birthday weekend in Tennessee. It was our last appointment with our midwife out at The Farm until we come to stay and deliver Tater in early June.

We figured it would also be kind of nice to plan a mini vacation for that weekend since it will be basically the last time we travel for leisure as just the two of us before Tater arrives.

N did have a nice dinner planned for me at The Melting Pot in downtown Nashville on Saturday night. We saw Pamela for our prenatal appointment Saturday afternoon then we stayed at the very unique Hotel Preston that evening.

On Sunday we headed out to the Cheekwood Botanical Garden in Nashville, we also stopped by The Mall at Green Hills to buy me a nice maternity top since the one I brought wouldn’t button around my boobs anymore.

I found 2 at Macy’s for $16.00 that weren’t even maternity tops but fit great, they were my birthday splurge. We also went by the Whole Foods near the mall to pick up a few grocery items and some calcium supplements per Pamela’s suggestion.

Like I said we had a blast together and we captured so many great belly shots for the scrapbook and our baby announcements (that I am not allowed to share with you just yet because they are a surprise!).

The photos I am allowed to share are of The Farm and I figured I would tell you more about the appointment too. First here is a slide show of the photos:

We were late to our appointment again which was a bummer, being late is also a big anxiety trigger for me so that wasn’t pleasant for us. Plus poor Pamela was waiting for us. We got lost on the way there once again thanks to GPS and internet directions.

I think we’ve finally figured out the correct directions there so N will be able to navigate his way there confidently once my labor has begun. It would really suck for him to be lost while I am in labor!

Anyway, once we arrived at The Farm Clinic I got to pee (finally) while N and Pamela talked. N ratted me out about my anxiety and stress levels these days then the appointment got underway.

All checked out normal. I am still weighing in at about 123.5 and my blood pressure is good but I’ve been warned to start laying more and to stop feeling bad about it. Apparently, laying down (preferably on the left side) means better overall circulation which has a major impact on kidney function while pregnant.

Blood pressure and kidney function go hand in hand so if my blood pressure is to stay at a good level my kidneys need to have adequate blood flow which means I need to lay down more… Like I’ve got time to lay! I am making a big effort to lay my ass down more now so don’t worry.

I am also working to drink more water and I’ve added a calcium supplement because calcium and magnesium also go hand in hand with lowering blood pressure. Blood pressure is basically the only potential concern for us right now. We are trying to be proactive so that we don’t have problems later.

We heard Tater’s heartbeat again and she checked out fine, N was having a great time taking video and snapping photos the whole time. We all got to chat about what is going on with life. We told Pamela about the move and all the stuff that is going on for us right now.

My OBGYN said I could lift stuff and not worry about a weight limit on lifting as long as it didn’t hurt. Pamela advised me not to lift stuff during the move at all. She said major lifting could lead to premature labor and that it is better to be safe than sorry, which we totally agree with.

We also talked and have ultimately decided to hold off on getting the RhoGam shot until after Tater is born (if her blood type warrants it). Having the injection while pregnant is just something we are not comfortable doing. We are more concerned with safeguarding Tater now as opposed to safeguarding my future fertility.

Oh and we did talk about the game plan for possible early labor and when to call Pamela or head to The Farm. Right now I am having some of my first practice contractions, fun!

All in all we are feeling good about the pregnancy progress, confident and ready for the last leg of pregnancy! It was a great weekend for us and now we are looking ahead to next weekend with anticipation. We get the keys to our new place, yay!

The post Summertown & Nashville Tennessee weekend recap, fun times! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

I was reading your blogs, commenting and tweeting throughout the day just wasn’t in the mindset to post anything worthwhile when one of the people I follow tweeted about a contest that was right up my alley! It was for 3 Fuzibunz cloth diapers, I still have none so I went and entered.

Then I got to thinking, “Hey whiny baby! Change those poopy pants and do something to improve the situation instead of just being all sad about it.”

So I did a twitter search on diaper giveaways then I found all these other bloggy contests to enter. Instead of keeping them to myself I figured I could share them with all you. If you have a need for the stuff then I’ve helped you, if you don’t you can still enter the contest and just give your winnings to me if you are drawn as the winner, Ha! (Kidding, but not really).

So here is what contests I’ve found:

• Ending March 20th – Win a $50 gift certificate to swamibabyboutique.com over at: http://theohanamama.com/
• Ending March 20th – Win a New Native Baby Carrier over at: http://delectiblemommies.blogspot.com
• Ends March 22nd – Win an assortment of baby goodies, 2 winners drawn over at: http://www.designmom.com
• Not sure when it ends – Win an assortment of mama goodies over at: http://www.lifestarringellieandeve.com
• Not sure when it ends – Win a Moby Wrap over at: http://ourlifeupstate.blogspot.com
• Ends March 25th – Win a newsgirl or newsboy crochet hat over at: http://babylovingmama.blogspot.com
• Ends March 29th – Win a Bumgeneous 3.0 cloth diaper over at: http://hotbellymama.blogspot.com
• Ends April 2nd – Win 3 FuziBunz one size fits all cloth diapers over at: http://meandmyboys-abby.blogspot.com
• Ends April 6th – Win any 2 Natures Baby Organics items over at: http://kindredspiritreviews.blogspot.com

Then I found the Ultimate Blog Party Giveaway and found a ton of great baby/ kid giveaway items! My top 3 picks that I’ve entered for there are:

• #19 – $50 gift certificate to Target Stores: Provided by: Shoot-Me-Now
• 21 – $50 gift certificate to Target Stores Provided by: Agoosa
• 22 – $50 gift certificate to Target Stores Provided by: Beginner Baby Blog

And if my top three picks are already chosen, I’d love any of the following (in order of preference) or anything else related to babies since I have my first child, a girl, on the way!

• 26 — $30 gift certificate to Target
• 7 — Ergo Baby Carrier
• 45 – Ultra Chic Diaper Bag with matching Diaper Pocket
• 91 — $25 gift card to Target
• 118 — $25.00 Old Navy Gift Card
• 123 — $20 Gift Card to Kohl’s
• 30 $25 gift certificate to weeBgreen
• 43 — Two $25 gift certificate to eco Store USA
• 83 – Prize: $25 Gift Certificate to ecostoreusa.com

The post Hey mama, win some goodies! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

• My tap water gives me diarrhea.

Yep I know that is TMI huh? It is serious though. About every 2 weeks it happens and oddly enough it is coinciding with my water intake. Any time I drink more than my 2 jugs of water it just runs right through me. Someone remarked “wouldn’t you just pee the water out?” and I thought to myself, “why yes I should”. Problem is that is not what is happening. Then my mom reminded me that her water has some unusual levels of minerals that cause them stomach upset among other issues. Our bodies really can have problems with the levels of stuff in our water and if my body can’t process whatever is in it and sees it as harmful wouldn’t it just eliminate it as quickly as possible? We are putting this theory to the test, I am now only drinking water that had been distilled first. Hopefully that will do the trick, I can tell you after 2 days I am peeing way more!

• Our OBGYN never called about our appointment that never happen.

We were planning to have our ultrasound on the 29th of January but since the town was literally shut down as a result of the storm our doctors office wasn’t open. They didn’t call to inform us of this either, this makes us a bit annoyed. We’ve been expecting them to call us to reschedule the missed appointment but I guess they really don’t care. I called them today and got booked for an appointment next Thursday, 2/12/09. We should be finding out Tater Tot’s sex then. *fingers crossed*

• I am still researching genealogy, now for Tater Tot’s sake.

Remember those silly family tree projects you are assigned as a kid in school? I never had fun doing them and always kind of despised them because we had no info on our family history at that time. In my baby book in the family tree area my parents and grandparents are filled in but nothing else. Where it says great grandmother/ grandfather someone wrote “dead”… Nice huh? Anyway, I am still loving the myheritage.com site and would encourage each of you to sign up there (it is free) and record all the info you know about your family. It may help others later on down the road and you never know when you might want to reasearch your own genealogy further.

• Our residential roads are still iced over, the city doesn’t plough them- ever.

Flagstaff had 12 ploughs in operation, the same number of ploughs are working here in Evansville… Funny thing is we had better snow/ ice removal in Flagstaff, which is was smaller than Evansville and gets way more winter storms. Things are ass backwards here with regards to winter weather response/ management, big time!

• Scott MacIntyre did advance to the next round on American Idol.

I recorded it and fast forwarded thought all the commercials and annoying drama girl parts but did see him in many of the filler shots and the show did indicate that his group made it to the next round. Of course he wouldn’t be featured in the group night drama episode, he is nice, cooperative and does well with others. I am sad that they didn’t show his groups performance though.

• Tater is crazy active and we are in the planning for baby phase now.

Tater’s kicks and punches continue, I am used to them now. Shoot! We’ve only got about 5 months left to this pregnancy, almost half way through and we have tons to do! [cue anxiety]

Here is my “perfect world” scenario brainstorm: We’ve got to get out of this place and in to another rental preferably before May (even though our lease doesn’t officially expire until August 31st). Any ideas on how to nicely get us out of our lease?

This means we only have 3 months to pack, find a new place and move in to it. Didn’t we just do the moving thing? *sigh* Once we are moved we’ll have the month of May to unpack and nest before any chance of early labor. We don’t want early labor folks!

Then I’ll take it easy for 2 weeks before we drop me off at The Farm (around the 2nd week of June). Then I’ll wait at The Farm for labor to begin while N is back in Indiana working and caring for the pets (I could end up being there until the 2nd week of July if baby wants to come later).

I’ll call him when I feel like it is time for him to make the trip down to be with us for the delivery (but who will care for the pets?). We’ll hang at The Farm for a few days after labor to get breastfeeding support and to make sure baby is doing well, then we’ll head home and adjust to being new parents.

See? Told you this was a brain spew post! Oh and we sat down and got our baby registry lists semi updated too! We still haven’t added gender specific stuff like bedding and clothes but all the other junk is on the registries now! You can check out the registries by using these buttons:

So basically that is it in a nutshell, sort of… Stop diarrhea, find out Tater’s sex, genealogy research, clean, pack, find new home, move, buy baby stuff, unpack, nest, rest, go The Farm, squeeze baby out, rest more, learn to breasfeed, bond with baby, enjoy, adapt, head home. The end (for now).

The post Brain Spew: Bullet Point Thursday. Bun in the oven edition. appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

We were barely making end meet, were financially frustrated, itching to start a family, had no chance of buying a home and were ready for a little more job security. Too bad my lady doctor said I was not fertile because of my low weight and N’s job told him they really valued him but could not increase his salary from here on out. That was 5 months ago…

Can you believe how much has happen in 5 months? Holly crap! N got the job in Evansville, IN so we started planing our cross country move. We got engaged 7 days before we were scheduled to move. We made the week long cross country move with minimal drama. We were in our new home for 3 weeks, were planning our wedding for July 2009 then we found out we conceived our first child! I just did the bills and we actually have several hundred dollars left over after everything was paid oh and houses are damn cheap here!

That really is a ton of stuff that fell in to place all at once for us. I guess it makes up for the 3 years we spend in limbo land huh? I almost can’t believe all has worked out for us in such a freaking short amount of time.

Now I just need to master taking photos of water already (I didn’t forget Wordless Wednesday, just a bit late) Lotus says anyone can do it and my camera has a freaking macro setting but my water photos suck big time. I guess you can’t have it all huh? Here are my crappy attempts and a funny video!

The post Remember when… appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Turns out I have 20/70 vision and am near sighted. The doc said I have no other eye problems and that I just have mild vision issues. He said the folks at the BMV just were being all mean and embarrassing and that my sight was not that bad. Just can’t read small print from very far away.

So getting the eye doctor thing taken care of was nice, then we grabbed some necessary groceries from Sam’s Club and came home. I had a headache from the eye doc tests so we relaxed for awhile. I ended up taking a nap which is pretty unusual for me.

We got in to “a baby is coming” mode while at the bookstore today and ended up buying The Pregnancy Journal; A Day-To-Day Guide to a Healthy and Happy Pregnancyso we could track progress and also learn about the pregnancy process. Speaking of pregnancy it seems people are rather divided about my baby weight as the last post’s comments suggest.

I am thinking about hosting a little betting pool on how much I’ll gain in pregnancy and how much weight will remain after the delivery. I am thinking $1.00 per guess to get in on the pool, then the winner and runner up will take the pool a few weeks after the delivery. What do you think? Winning some cash would be pretty sweet for the winners and we can all speculate about how my body will handle this pregnancy.

I know some of you might think I am a bit perverse for putting this very personal thing on display for the whole bloggosphere, I am just not a shy person and I think it will be interesting to have a pool going. What do you say, are you game?

The post Soon I'll be able to read street signs again! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.